In announcing his departure from ESPN, Dan Patrick's timing was impeccable: At a network devoted to determining "Who's Now," he was a dinosaur.

For my money, Patrick was the perfect antidote to Chris Berman, the ultimate ESPN blowhard, and much better as a SportsCenter anchor

than a radio host. There's no mystery why Keith Olbermann arrived for that second hour of "The Dan Patrick Show": The host had a difficult time carrying that three-hour radio show on his own.

But give Patrick credit: He refused to indulge in the mindless carping jihads that now dominate ESPN and suggest that MacBeth ("Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing") is the network's patron saint. Patrick thought the athletes were a bigger and better story than the network itself, a quaint, outdated concept at ESPN: Witness "Who's Now," the network's quest to generate superficial debate under the guise of determining "the ultimate sports star." I'll miss his reasoned, thoughtful, nuanced commentary. The braintrust at ESPN won't, not with Stephen A. Smith screaming in one ear and Skip Bayless in the other.